Mr Clarke told BBC 2's Daily Politics programme the European convention had itself been drawn up by a British lawyer.

The Tory leader is appointing a group of lawyers and experts to work out what should be in the new British Bill of Rights.

But Mr Clarke said: "He's gone out there to try and find some lawyers who agree with him, which I think will be a struggle myself."

The Human Rights Act has come under fire in some newspapers, who believe it has put the rights of criminals above those of victims of crime.

But Mr Clarke said: "In these home affairs things I think occasionally it's the duty of politicians on both sides to turn round to the tabloids and right-wing newspapers and say 'you have your facts wrong and you're whipping up facts which are inaccurate'."

Despite his criticisms, he said he would not resign as head of the constitutional task force, especially as the new group of experts was looking at the Bill of Rights issue.

Terror fears

Ministers have also attacked Mr Cameron's plan as "ill thought out" and "muddled".

But it has won support from Labour peer and QC Baroness Kennedy.

In a speech to the Centre for Policy Studies in London on Monday, Mr Cameron argued that the Human Rights Act had prevented Britain deporting suspected terrorists whatever the circumstances.

It was "practically an invitation for terrorists and would-be terrorists to come to Britain" he said.

"I believe it is wrong to undermine public safety, and indeed public confidence in the concept of human rights, by allowing highly dangerous criminals and terrorists to trump the rights of the people of Britain to live in security and peace," he said.